// In this Dolan is about 15 and Zaraganba is about 20, so they live together. //

It was a reminder, a grim reminder at that, it wouldn't let him forget, he didn't think he would be able to forget, even if he could. 'It's doubtful he will survive the surgery with the extent of his injuries.' The words of the doctor came back to mind as he looked at his reflection, in the full body mirror of the bedroom, lit only by the sunlight that filtered in through the windows. Zaraganba let out a sigh, raising a hand up to trace a bright pink scar that trailed from his shoulder, moving at a diagonal across his chest, and coming to a stop just below his ribcage, a scar that left him bedridden in a hospital for months. He found himself wishing he had never gotten the horrid scar to begin with, but what could he do about it now? Nothing more but to hide it as best he could. His feet walked him slowly away from the mirror and over to his bed, where he grabbed a thin jacket, pulling it on and zipping it up, hiding his scar in a process.
He found himself wearing thin clothes such as jackets and sweatshirts more often, not only to hide the scar, but hide the memory of a scar being there to begin with, because it brought back so many memories Zaraganba would love to forget, and it seemed to pain his friends and family every time they laid eyes on the visible scarred flesh. So he decided to hide the scar after so long. Walking out of his room, he started to walk down the stairs to the lower level of the home.

"F*ck you Nixxiom, that was just a lucky shot!"

The voice caused him to pause about half-way down the steps, "Dolan, watch your mouth!" He shouted, rolling his eyes, hearing a set of grumbles in response. 'Probably just playing an online game with the gang again.' He thought, moving to continue walking down the stairs again, "Where are you going bro?" Zaraganba paused, having only walked down a couple more steps, turning his body slightly to see his younger brother standing at the top of the stairway, still wearing his gaming headset, he noticed the slight dark circles that were forming under Dolan's eyes, which made concern begin to bubble it's way into his chest.

"Oh, no where, I was just planning on going for a walk, y'know, to clear my head a bit." The older replied, with a shrug of the shoulder, but his thoughts were ringing like bells. 'Something's wrong with Dolan, he's been getting so little sleep lately' He thought. Dolan was quiet for a moment, just staring at his brother, before he finally nodded his head. "Alright, just. . ." He trailed off a bit, falling silent for a few moments, before he continued, "Just come home safe, okay? I don't want to go looking for you late at night again." Dolan's voice was softer now, and Zaraganba's heart sank into his stomach, but he nodded, "Of course, I'll be sure to be home before dark, promise." He said, giving Dolan a weak smile and a small wave as he walked the rest of the way down the stairs and out the door. While out on his walk, Zaraganba stuffed his hands into the pockets of the jacket he wore, recently he noticed how distant Dolan was getting from him, like their brotherly bond was slowly breaking, it was also noticeable that there were some days where he looked more tired than others. He had asked him once what was going on, but Dolan had replied that it was nothing, and that he was letting his head get the better of him, which in a way, he guessed made a bit of sense, so he didn't question it any more than a few times after that, though he couldn't help but wonder and ponder about it now.

Meanwhile, over the next several hours, Dolan had tried to distract himself with video games and talking with the gang over his gaming headset, but every once in a while, his mind would drift back to Zaraganba, would he be okay? What if he got hurt and he wasn't there to help? Thoughts and questions were swirling around his mind, blurring his reality slightly. "Lan. . . Dolan. . . DOLAN!" Dolan jumped at the loud yell coming from his headset, given by none other than HellBent himself. "You okay man, you didn't answer us when we called your name, and your game character never moved at all." It was Nixxiom that spoke next.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm totally fine, I just got distracted was all, no big deal." Dolan spoke nonchalantly, but both Nixxiom and HellBent seemed to know something more was behind it, the two having picked up on the subtle tired notes in Dolan's voice when he spoke, so HellBent spoke up. "Maybe you should take a break or something, just for a bit. The game might be getting to you." Dolan was going to argue, "But-" "Dolan just take a break, just an hour or so, nothing more." Nixxiom cut him off, and Dolan sighed, "Fine, I'll take a break." He agreed, "See ya." He muted his mic and shut off his game after saving it. Dolan left his room, going down the stairs to the kitchen, he decided to get something to eat. He went over to the fridge, planning on just eating the leftovers from the night before. and that's just what he did, zapping the leftover nachos in the microwave for a bit. Ding. Hearing the microwave beep, Dolan took the now warm food out, walking over to the table and sitting down, beginning to eat. He checked his phone while he ate, checking up on the Planet Dolan subreddit and reading through some of the comments on the posted question. Once finished however, he pushed away what he didn't eat and laid his head down on the table with a soft groan, his eye-lids suddenly feeling heavy.

Later when dusk started to approach, casting the sky into a mix of deep shades of reds and oranges, along with a few hints of yellow and pink as the sun set over the horizon, Zaraganba walked in through the front door, heading for the stairs, after closing the door softly behind him, making sure to lock it as well, "Dolan I-" He cut himself off, his left foot resting on the first step, as something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. Curious, he turned his head in the direction of the kitchen, before he turned and started walking in that direction, his eyes falling on his brother, who had fallen asleep at the table. "Dolan?" The older of the two stepped closer, but the only response he received was soft snoring, which made Zaraganba shake his head and chuckle softly, moving he carefully picked Dolan up bridal style. "Come on, I don't think the kitchen table is a very comfortable place to spend the night." He said quietly, before he started to carry Dolan up the stairs to his room. After laying him down and tucking him in, Zaraganba turned starting to walk out, flicking off the light, "Good night Dolan, sleep well." He said, before leaving, closing the door behind him, unaware of how Dolan began to whimper and shift shortly after Zaraganba left the room.

As Zaraganba moved to retire to his own bed, he slipped off the jacket he had been wearing, draping it over the end of his bed. He looked at himself in the mirror again, eyes locking on the scar for a moment before he started to hear the sound of a blaring horn, seen the headlights, heard the squeal of tires on the road, the sound of metal scraping and crushing against metal, and the high pitched scream that came from his throat, as large glass shards had pierced through the skin of his chest, because the air bag of his car had failed to deploy. Zaraganba shook his head, snapping himself out of the memory. "Should have never happened." He said to himself, moving to shut off his bedroom lights before he went back to bed and crawled under the warm covers, looking at the clock on his nightstand.

10:15 P.M. Nodding slightly to himself, Zaraganba nodded to himself, before he turned over and fell into a deep sleep.
It was peaceful for a time, his mind drifting through darkness, as there were no dreams to have of it seemed, at least, not tonight anyway, all was well until. . .

"ZARA!" A shrill, blood curdling horrified scream coming from the room that was just across from his own, woke him from the darkness behind his eyes and caused him to jolt slightly. "Dolan." Was the only word that left his mouth before he was on his feet, running for his brother's room, opening the door, before his eyes looked around, thinking maybe an unwanted guest had made their way into Dolan's room, but he quickly found that this wasn't the case as his eyes shifted over to Dolan's bedm before he walked over, checking the clock on Dolan's bedside table
3:00 A.M.

Dolan was thrashing about on the bed, the blanket tangled all around his body, his face stained by the constant tears that fell from his eyes, mumbled words falling from his mouth. Zaraganba felt his heart sink at the sight, before he slowly reached forward, shaking his brother slightly. "Dolan, Dolan wake up, it's just a nightmare." He said, shaking his brother still. Dolan woke up shortly after, his body jolting into a sitting position, forcing Zaraganba to take a step back and pull his hand away, because of how fast he moved. "NO!" Dolan screamed the word at the top of his lungs, his hands placed over his ears, his eyes squeezed shut, making the tears fall faster. His body was shaking, and there was a cold sweat dripping down his forehead, eyes wide with fear, at the moment however, Dolan seemed to wrapped up inside his own head to even notice his older brother was standing there.

Zaraganba was quiet for a moment, just looking at Dolan with this sad look in his eyes. 'How long has this been going on?' He found himself wondering, but guessed the nightmares had been going on for quite some time, judging from his brother's reaction to them. "Dolan? Are you alright?" He asked, moving to place a hand on Dolan's shoulder, which seemed to snap him back to reality as his head turned, blue teary eyes looking up.

"I-I. . . I don't-" He tried to answer the question, but the answer seemed to quickly evade him as he broke down into tears and started to cry once more, the nightmare quickly resurfacing into his mind, his eyes going wide as the vivid images flashed before them. Upon seeing this, Zaraganba simply sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling Dolan into a tight hug, rubbing his back slightly in hopes it would calm his brother down. Dolan returned the hug with a death grip no hesitation needed, sobbing into Zaraganba's shoulder. Time ticked by, but neither of the two dared to release the hug, and after maybe an hour, Dolan had finally calmed down, his grip relaxing, and Zaraganba smiled, pulling back from the hug to grip Dolan lightly by his shoulders.
"Are you alright now?" Dolan nodded slightly to answer the question, sniffling as he raised an arm to wipe the tears from his now red, puffy, slightly bloodshot eyes. "Good, can you tell me what you were dreaming about? You seemed like you were having a nightmare." Zaraganba kept his voice calm and low as he spoke, but Dolan hesitated. "I-It's nothing bro, don't worry about it." He said at last, trying to wave him off.

"Dolan, don't lie to me." Dolan winced at the sudden but subtle, scolding edge in his brother's voice, as he looked away from him and down to his lap, where he was fiddling nervously with the blankets. "Alright, I was having a nightmare about. . . About the time when I found you after. . . After the accident." It was hard to speak over the forming lump in his throat, but he managed. Zaraganba felt his whole body go numb, as the world around him seemed to stop, time slowing to a snail's pace. "How- what- I-" Words seemed to fail him, before he pulled his younger brother into another hug, which surprised Dolan a bit but he hugged back. The hug was held for a moment before Zaraganba pulled back, looking Dolan in the eyes as he spoke. "I'm. . . I'm sorry you ever had to find me when you did." He apologized before he fell silent, feeling as though in a way the accident was his fault just as much as if was the other driver's even if he had been paying attention to the road at the time.

"Do you maybe want to talk about it?" Dolan thought the question over for a bit, nodding slightly, figuring that maybe talking about it and telling someone would make the nightmares come to an end.

"Most of the nightmare was all a blur, but there are a few things I remember seeing. I-It was when I f-found you in t-th-the remains of yo-your car, you s-skin was p-pale, really re-really pale, a-and blood w-was pouring fr-from the w-wound like a r-river." Dolan's voice was shaking horribly as he spoke, Zaraganba reached out to place a hand on his brother's back, rubbing small circle motions, hoping that it would both calm him down, and keep him grounded in reality, so Dolan wouldn't lose himself to his memories too much. "I-I tried checking for a-a pulse, any-anything I could, be-because you-you weren't breathing but-" Dolan was cut off when his brother pulled him into yet another hug, Zaraganba making it a point to be sure Dolan's head was placed on his chest, right over where his heart would be, which seemed to ease the younger's fears a bit.

"I think that's all I need to know to figure out the rest, but listen to me." He said, hugging Dolan tighter, "I will not be leaving you, not now, not never, I can't just up abandon family without a really good, rock solid reason, and a car crash wasn't good enough of a reason, because I'm still here, aren't I?." Dolan nodded as he listened, while also listening to the strong, yet steady beat of his older brother's heart, feeling himself beginning to relax at last, as his eyes started to droop, "Promise you won't leave bro?" Dolan asked tiredly, "Danger brother's honor." Zaraganba smiled slightly, and that was enough to bring comfort to Dolan as drifted off, beginning to snore. Zaraganba's smile grew when he heard the snores, so carefully he moved to lay Dolan back in bed, and tuck him in, after doing so he tiptoed out of the room, grabbing the blankets and pillows off his own bed, before coming back and laying them down on the floor, next to Dolan's bed, deciding to spend the rest of the night there, as he laid down himself. "Love you little bro." He said softly, before he fell asleep as well, not hearing the "Love you too Zara." Dolan had mumbled back in his sleep.